August 9th (Rosie's, a la carte)—Karl Lindholm, Midd College emeritus dean and Am. Studies prof., Addy Indy (mostly) sports columnist, and baseball aficionado extraordinaire. He will, no surprise, speak on baseball!
August 16th (Rosie's, buffet breakfast)
August 23rd: Social - American Flatbread 5-7 p.m.
PRESIDING: John Barstow
MINUTES OF August 2nd, 2023
Guests: Larry Jones
Birthdays: John Zahn
Wedding Anniversary - Eric and Janice Denu (17th Anniversary)
Rotary Anniversary - Spence - 11 years
CLUB ANNOUNCEMENTS:
John B: Social - American Flatbread on August 23rd from 5-7 p.m. (Cash Bar)
Geoff: HOPE Project
Thank you to everyone who helped including Maureen, Fran, Nancy, Jason L, Kati and Lyn.
The next event will be on August 17th from 12-4 p.m.
Eric - Invited Mike McGovern, RI Polio Chair to come speak to the club about the work that is happening around the Polio initiative. He resides in Maine and is excited to come see the club
Liz- Exchange Student
Sem’s VISA has been delayed until September 5th instead of mid-August. Additionally, the first host family will only be available from Sept - November. Nonetheless, Liz is working hard to keep this going smoothly!
Jason L: Service Projects
Thank you to Ben, Fran and Bill C for helping to set up the Kissing Gates.
Lindale Project - August 11th to mix and pour cement and August 12th to help with edging. Jason is looking for about 6 volunteers
Jason S: RYLA - There are two students interested at this time and more information will come soon
Paul - Membership Committee (Will be meeting soon and providing an update)
Bill C - Bocce Tournament -
September 30th: 9:30a-12:30p
Bill is looking to sponsor a court and have two teams. If you are interested in playing, please contact Bill.
PS - There is a trophy and Rotary’s name is on it from both 2014 & 2015 - do we want to lose our title??
Fines and Happy Dollars:
Fines:
Late: Liz S, Eric D, Jason S, Maureen and Geoff
Happy Dollars:
Max is happy to be part of this group and see everyone rise to the occasion when he needed Tent set up ASAP. There was a group of volunteers who responded immediately!
Spence had 2 birthdays in the family during the past week and is happy to be a grandparent of 3 teenagers, not a parent
Paul had a wonderful trip to Scotland with his daughter
David was happy about the great weather
Lyn was happy to have spent time in the Adirondacks and is happy to be back
Jason had a wonderful time in Arizona in the Grand Canyon, but it was HOT
Nancy echoed Spences comment about being happy to be a grandparent and not a parent of 3 teenagers
Liz S is both a grandparent and parent to 3 teenagers
Gary was excited to announce that his brother Dave has joined the Maccabi Tel Aviv team as assistant coach
Ellie went to a conference in Denver and was excited to see friends she had not seen for the past 10 years
Maureen was happy Geoff finally remembered who helped at the HOPE Project
Mike had a good time in DC and was happy to see friends, family, and old colleagues while down there
Heather went to her 25th High School Reunion and was happy to see everyone
John was happy about the Summer Weather
Sylvie was happy to have a mini vacation with Brock and finalize some wedding plans at the venue
Eric has sold his business and thanked everyone for their support over the past years. Rotary has helped contribute to his success and is grateful to everyone who helped him along the way. He started his business 36 years ago and is ready for the next chapter. Good Luck and Best Wishes, Eric!
Guest Speaker: David Stameskin
John thanked Alex Wolff for recommending David Stameskin as a guest speaker. John introduced David to talk more about the local history of Middlebury College. David indicated that he completed his Bachelors in Chicago, Masters in Wisconsin, and Ph.D in Michigan. David was the Associate Dean of Franklin and Marshall College. David thanked Middlebury Rotary for their generous support of Sheldon and for all their work in the community.
David started off by indicating his interest in the history of Middlebury College and sharing the story of W. Storrs Lee who had many great books including “Stage Coach North”, “The Green Mountains of VT” and “Father went to college” The Story of Middlebury College”. Lee was born in 1906 and went to Middlebury College in 1928. He was interested in the college’s history and went to the library to get more information. He was told to go to the Sheldon to find minutes and information from the past. Therefore, Lee went to the Sheldon and was told that only Board members could access the information. Therefore, Lee became a board member and he was finally able to go in and look through newspapers and other minutes/information from the college. He found minutes from 1800-1850s from the college at the Sheldon and then decided to explore the space from basement to attic. He had great ideas on how to turn the space into what is now the Sheldon Museum. These ideas included creating a space for newspaper articles, temporary exhibits and display of the office. In the 1930s, the Sheldon had a enough money to do some renovations and declutter the space. Charles Harvi was a handyman that worked with unorthodox projects and restored areas.The Sheldon had a grand opening and about 100 people attended. Fast forward a few years, Storrs Lee has a unpublished manuscript and has asked David to add to it! If you are interested in more Middlebury College history, please visit the Sheldon and read the books mentioned in the intro.
.png)
